360 Major overheating problem

[Karl Keicher]

I think your wasting alot of money here! You can put as many fans on that radiator as you want, if the coolant isnt circulating its not going to cool! Take that radiator out, get it to a shop and have them pull the the ends-I think you will find your problem. And while they are replacing your core( dont waste your time and money having it "rodded") Flush the block and the heater core. If the radiator is severely plugged, might want to plan on replacing the heater core next. I ran alot of 390's in the '70s and when ever one was running hot, the radiator and or water pump was the culprit. As far as the 160 stat, when you get your radiator done, go back to the 180 so the engine is running at the proper temp-too cold will just cause more problems down the road.

[TheTinian]

Ive already flushed the rad, and its a fairly new one. The water pump is new too like I said. Next I'm trying flushing the block and well see how that goes.

[Alvin in AZ]

Originally Posted by Redmanbob

What the hell was the topic of this thread again ?? LOL... Either you maintain things or you let it go. And if the later, you find yourself complaining about it. Pretty ****ing simple really

Yes! :)

That was my point, Bob. :)

Showed I've seen "improvements" from both sides.

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Bear 45/70, electrons move down an oily wire better than a half corroded-away wire.
Electrons also "slip ;)" past the battery clamp gap better when it's oily than when it's dry and sulfated up to beat hell. :)
No need for the huge wires my brother-in-law claimed "needs to be changed out to, every time".

Nope, when every thing's -right- the original design works fine.

So what's "wrong" with mine and other's old FEs over heating?

I fixed mine with a 12 finned FlowKooler pump.
(already had the 195 degree Robertshaw thermostat and a new 4 row radiator)
But fiddling with the timing and mixture might have been the -real- fix.
LOL :)

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Yes my '75 F150 did/does have warm climate specs but that's not the "heading" ...like most things in the Ford Service Manuals you kinda have to dig for information, but it's there in between the obvious stuff.

"extra cooling package" is what the salesmen called it.

That came with the A/C package I ordered.
But somewhere along the line i didn't get it tho, it came with a 3 row radiator.
But it still cooled fine for a longass time! :)

So what's changed since then?

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I believe there's something going on with the ignition+carburetor+age that makes the old things need a little more help with the cooling. One might be the tired old water pumps out there. If it's got a cast iron impeller it's not pumping the water it did when it was new, is one obvious example.

My 360FE just up and started that heating crap too.
And now, it's fine.
Can set in traffic no sweat.

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I disagree with the 180 degree thermostat being a good idea too ...and the 160 is asking for trouble!

The thermostat at 195 sets the running temperature if all else is "right".
That's all it does... it doesn't do anything to actually -remove- heat.
Right? :)

Several times (and I ain't no mechanic) I've seen dip sticks with white "soapy" oil on the dip stick from guys running 160 degree thermostat and one time with a "gutted" thermostat.
YMMV :)
But that looks like trouble to me. :/

"added some Lemon Joy to the engine oil there did ya? ;)"

Alvin30/30 blackbearmountainlionana****loadofjackrabbits in AZ

[Bear 45/70]

Originally Posted by Alvin in AZ

Bear 45/70, electrons move down an oily wire better than a half corroded-away wire.
Electrons also "slip " past the battery clamp gap better when it's oily than when it's dry and sulfated up to beat hell.
No need for the huge wires my brother-in-law claimed "needs to be changed out to, every time".

So you are using the motor oil as an anti-corrosion coating to prevent the wire from deteriorating so the wire continues to work properly. There are a hell of a lot better products out there than motor oil to do this with. As to the amperage carrying capacity of any given wire size, bigger is better, it will have less resistance and handle more amps and it takes longer to wear out. When a starter gets old and tired they draw more amps to do the same job a new one does. The the wire that was just adequate (which is what the accountants require manufactures to do) to do the job when new, won't handle the increased current. Always replace a wire with at least the next size up to handle those amperage increases, it's smart and safer.

[390428cjt]

Back to the topic at hand >>>> Hey Tin keep us posted on your results on your heat issue Im real curious as to the rhyme and reason for your overheat problem as well as the rest of us here.

[Alvin in AZ]

Originally Posted by Bear 45/70

So you are using the motor oil as an anti-corrosion coating to prevent the wire from deteriorating so the wire continues to work properly. There are a hell of a lot better products out there than motor oil to do this with.

Well... let's just say... yes, there are products sold for the purpose and that I've used the ones a guy might say were for "industrial uses" but I never found one that worked better.

Edison Battery Company supplied bottles of oil for the purpose and still the motor oil with its acid/base buffers in it worked better. No kidding. :)

And "No-Ox-Id" grease was/is crap, BTW. BTDT and BTarguedThat before too, starting back in the mid 70's after I noticed it was failing because it was too thick. (even in AZ) Mixed it with motor oil and it did a much better job and around the same time tested it against just plain motor oil and the motor oil looked better and did not fail to protect the terminals and straps and cables.

Since that time just used the motor oil and never needed to switch to anything else.

YMMV :)

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I'm not against adding larger cables, it's just that my original cables were still working -really good- along with the original voltage regulator and starter and alternator and the pickup was sitting in my brother in law's driveway in Arkansas and was 27 years old at ~140,000 miles. ...while he was saying it wouldn't work without replacing the cables with -huge- ones after only one year.

Oops. ;)

Alvin in AZ (retired signal-ape)
ps- one reason my pickup had such low mileage was because I had a company truck in the driveway every night. :)

[jowilker]

Alvin, "extra cooling package" is something that was part of the ***** Special packages, like Camper, Construction, and a couple others.

I would be interested in more Ford provided info on Hot Climate trucks.


John

[390428cjt]

[Alvin in AZ]

Originally Posted by 390428cjt

:-offtopic

No it ain't. :)

Alvin in AZ

[390428cjt]

Originally Posted by Alvin in AZ

No it ain't.

Alvin in AZ

I thought this thread was about an overheating problem ,,, so what does battery cables or coatings for the wire have to do with the cooling system

[Alvin in AZ]

Originally Posted by 390428cjt

I thought this thread was about an overheating problem ,,, so what does battery cables or coatings for the wire have to do with the cooling system:confused::-offtopic

The topic is whole thread is about ford trucks.
So it ain't off topic. :)

He might've meant "thread high jack"? :(
But the thread wasn't high-jacked since the cable discussion was -directly- related to the thread's topic.

Like... uh... pay attention and stuff? ;)

Alvin in AZ

[390428cjt]

Originally Posted by Alvin in AZ

The topic is whole thread is about ford trucks.
So it ain't off topic.

He might've meant "thread high jack"?
But the thread wasn't high-jacked since the cable discussion was -directly- related to the thread's topic.

Like... uh... pay attention and stuff?

Alvin in AZ

wtf dude, you need a tampon!

[FFR428]

Originally Posted by 390428cjt

wtf dude, you need a tampon!

Things here have a habit of going OT most of the times. I'm one of the worst offenders of that and guilty as charged. So don't be to hard on Alvin. It not unusual for a topic to touch 5-6 others during the run of the thread. But they all seem to come back around after a while. Just the way things run here sometimes. But some interesting things come out of it too.

[Redmanbob]

Originally Posted by FFR428

Things here have a habit of going OT most of the times. I'm one of the worst offenders of that and guilty as charged. So don't be to hard on Alvin. It not unusual for a topic to touch 5-6 others during the run of the thread. But they all seem to come back around after a while. Just the way things run here sometimes. But some interesting things come out of it too.

GUILTY!! LMAO!! yes things do get loopy but in the end if you can stay on track and read all of the posts your that much brighter/confused when you walk away LOL..

[390428cjt]

Yeaah ,,,I know I shouldnt let that sort thing happen, Thanks for the input,,,

sorry alvin.